Some of the states most exciting cricket players visited Cowra as part of the annual Cricket NSW Country Blitz.

Students from St Raphael’s Catholic School were treated to a visit from Sydney Thunder WBBL players Lisa Griffith and Maisy Gibson.

Lisa said it was fantastic to visit the area and encourage children taking up the sport.

“The kids have been fantastic, they’ve enjoyed getting out of class and participating in some sport. There’s been some superstars out here so it will be interesting to see some good cricketers coming out of the area,” she said.

“I’m from Bathurst so it’s good to come out and participate with the kids, I was one of them once upon a time, and I appreciated whenever sportspeople would come visit especially cricketers. I always remember that fondly.”

Read more:

Both women said it was fantastic to see young girls taking part in the blitz.

“It’s been fantastic, the women’s game has really taken off,” Lisa said.

“So it’s fantastic to see girls taking up the game and hopefully can see a future in it.”

“In Sydney we’ve got our own girls T20 blast and having girls being able to play against girls from such a young age, it keeps them encouraged and keeps them wanting to play cricket,” Maisy said.

“Other sports like soccer have a female competition that you can play with other girls every weekend, but for me and Lisa growing up we’ve had to play with the boys and stick through some tough times.

“So having the girls able to lean on each other in the T20 blast has been really good.”

“I still go back home to Singleton and try and encourage girls to keep playing there, we’ve had a few girls come through there but it’s kind of died down in the last couple of years and I think that’s been across the state.

“So I find it really important to come out here and chat to the kids and get them wanting to play,” she said.

St Raphael's Catholic School Sports Coordinator, Luke O'Reilly, said it was great to see cricket’s biggest stars visiting the region.

“It’s really good to see some state players out in regional areas and the kids having fun and interacting with them,” he said.

“A big thank you to Matt for organising the event and getting some big stars out to the country, it’s really good to see it out in the area.

“With Matt’s help we’ve got the T20 blast coming up in term three, where our girls and boys normally make it to the area finals. Or go on to win the Australian title, like the girls did two years ago,” he said.

Both Masiy and Lisa said they were excited for the upcoming WBBL competition.

“We are looking to build on making the finals this year rather then the semi finals,” they said.

“It’s all been a bit secretive but we’ve got a camp coming up during August so it will be good to meet the girls again.”